SE OUTPLAYED IN PLAY-IN; DEPAUL ENDS OTAHKIANS' SEASON WITH SWEEP

Seven runs in two games against the pitching staff with the nation's lowest earned run average was more than Southeast Missouri State University softball coach Lana Richmond expected.

But it wasn't enough.

DePaul, the Mid-Continent Conference champion, swept an NCAA play-in doubleheader before 305 fans Thursday afternoon in the last games at Parker Field.

A six-run fifth inning propelled DePaul to a 7-5 victory in the opener. Liza Brown's three-hitter in the second game helped the Blue Demons to a 6-2 win.

The sweep earned DePaul, ranked No. 11 in the USA Today coaches poll, an automatic bid in the NCAA regional tournament next week. The Blue Demons (43-6) likely would have earned an at-large bid anyhow.

Southeast's season ended with a record of 38-13-1 and Ohio Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles.

DePaul entered Thursday's games with a team ERA of 0.57. Brown (14-2), who allowed no hits through four innings in the second game and one earned run in all, entered with an ERA of 0.27, the nation's best. Opponents were hitting .116 against her.

"I was a little surprised (Southeast) even got the two runs off her," said DePaul coach Eugene Lenti. "Liza's been doing that all year for us. She did a great job of spotting her fastball, using her riseball, changing speeds."

Southeast coach Lana Richmond was impressed.

"DePaul clearly was the better team," she said. "(Brown's) riseball was dominating. It looks hittable when it comes in at you, but..."

Kim Palmer, a senior center fielder, was Southeast's only consistent hitter Thursday. Palmer went 5-for-7 in the two games with a solo home run in the opener.

Palmer ended Brown's no-hitter bid with a single to start the fifth inning. She later scored on a throwing error by shortstop Karen Stewart. In the seventh, Palmer hit a single with two out and scored on a Chris Shetley double.

But that made just a small dent in the 6-0 lead DePaul had garnered in the fourth inning.

Southeast starter Christine Engelhardt walked in a run in the second and was removed after Dana Jakusz began the third with a home run.

DePaul then got four runs in the fourth off Debbie Schmelz (19-7), who took the loss in both games. After a Kate Otto single and a Julie Bonk walk, Toni Campbell laid down a bunt.

Southeast first baseman Josie Earnest tried to get Otto at third on Campbell's bunt but threw it away and Otto scored. Julie Luna later scored Bonk and Campbell with a single.

Southeast's offense was much more active against DePaul's Nicole Terpstra (20-3) in the opener. The Otahkians had eight hits, including Palmer's home run, her school record 11th of the year, and a homer from Earnest.

"They hit us harder than anybody has all year," Lenti said.

"I thought we had a shot in that first game," Richmond said. "If someone would have bet me that we would score five runs off DePaul, I would have taken that bet."

Southeast led 1-0 in the second as Palmer hit a single off the third base bag and scored when third baseman Julie Luna couldn't handle a shot from Renee Enos on a play that was ruled on error.

Schmelz, a junior right-hander, cruised through four innings, allowing only a single in the fourth. But she fell apart in the fifth.

With one out Bonk laced a double and scored on an Otto double. Palmer had a chance to get Bonk at the plate but her throw from mid-center field sailed halfway up the backstop.

Then with two out Brown scored Otto with a single. Schmelz hit the next hitter, Jakusz, before Luna hit a three-run home run to left field. That made the score 5-1 and Richmond removed Schmelz.

"The last three weeks of the season, (Schmelz) really struggled," Richmond said. "We tried to find that point when it was time to take her out. We probably left her in one inning too long."

Adriene Salerno entered and was greeted by a laser shot over the left-center field fence from Stewart.

"Once we get going, it's hard to stop us," Lenti said. "We've hit home runs in bunches all year long."

Southeast tried to get back in it with Earnest's two-out solo homer in the fifth, Palmer's shot in the sixth and a pair of runs in the seventh. Earnest and Ricki DeArmon each singled and scored on a throwing error by Stewart, the DePaul shortstop.

"We hung in there, no doubt about it," said Southeast shortstop Jenny Oermann. "We played hard. We don't have anything to hang our heads about.

"I think that definitely we're capable of knocking off high-ranked teams. We proved that against Missouri. It just wasn't our day."

"They were still playing in the middle of May," Richmond said. "That says it all. I thought they gave it their all."

The games were the last at the field in front of the Scully and Parker buildings on Southeast's campus. The Otahkians will play next season in a complex that is being constructed at Bertling and Sprigg streets.